Musici Ireland
Musici Ireland is a women-led, socially engaged arts collective creating original, multidisciplinary work that blends music, theatre, dance, film, and spoken word. Founded in 2012 by violist and artistic director Beth McNinch, the ensemble has become a platform for bold collaboration across artistic genres, with a strong focus on amplifying underrepresented voices and addressing contemporary social issues. Signature productions include A Mother’s Voice, a poignant tribute to survivors of Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes; Chronically Hopeful, an immersive response to chronic illness and invisible disability; SLIME!, an eco-conscious performance for young audiences; and Deeds Not Words, a dance-film inspired by the suffragette movement. The group has developed a strong reputation for commissioning and performing new music, with a growing catalogue of premieres created through close collaboration with living composers. In 2025, the ensemble released their debut album Earthrise on the Métier label (Divine Art Recordings), featuring new chamber works by Linda Buckley, Deirdre Gribbin, Ian Wilson, Liam Bates, and Deirdre McKay. www.musici.ie
Tonight, Musici Ireland are presenting us with a very strong ensemble of top-class performers who have garnered amazing reputations with their talents and abilities, and they have graced some of the biggest stages. We are very fortunate to have;
Soprano Róisín O’Grady
Mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty
Tenor Eamonn Mulhall
Violinist Kerenza Peacock
Violist Beth McNinch
Cellist Katie Tertell
Arvo Pärt “Es sang vor langen Jahren” for Mezzo-Soprano , violin and viola [7']
Libby Croad “To Have Body” from Chronically Hopeful (with voices) [7’]
Purcell “Music for a while” Soprano & Strings [3.50']
Linda Buckley “Fiol” for string trio [14’]
Deborah Pritchard Stabat Mater [10’] WORLD PREMIERE
INTERVAL
Arvo Pärt Stabat Mater [26’]
Soprano Róisín O’Grady has performed in recital and oratorio throughout Ireland and specialises in the performance of early music
Róisín has performed with early music ensembles, orchestras and choral societies throughout Ireland and the UK including the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Irish Baroque Orchestra and the Orchestra of St. Cecilia. She is a member of the early music duo tonos who performed in the John Field Room, National Concert Hall, the National Gallery of Ireland, the Sligo Festival of Baroque Music, and was broadcast in concert by Lyric FM. In 2011 she performed for US President Barack Obama in the White House on St. Patrick’s Day with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland. She regularly performs with harpsichordist Malcolm Proud.
Irish mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty has firmly established a reputation as a respected interpreter of both early and contemporary works, and she also has a busy schedule in mainstream opera and concert repertoire. She is a Creative Associate on the Arts Council’s Creative Schools scheme, and as of 2025 is the Artistic Director of Sligo Baroque Music Festival. Her opera repertoire includes many of the important lyric and coloratura mezzo-soprano roles, and on the concert platform she has sung most of the major sacred concert works, including all the major works of Bach, as well as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, and numerous chamber-music works. She is also a dedicated song recitalist, most recently appearing in song recitals with pianists Finghin Collins and Jonathan Ware. A champion of new music, recent highlights include the world premieres of several new works Silvia Colasanti’s opera, Proserpine at the Spoleto Festival, Deirdre Gribbin’s “The stones of life” and Anne Marie O’Farrells civil war cantata “Who’d ever think it would come to this”, as well as Dorabella for Irish National Opera in their recent production of Cosi fan tutte, 2025 saw her role debut as Orlowsky in Irish National Opera’s Die Fledermaus, as well as a festival and role debut as Kate in Owen Wingrave at the Festivale della valle d’Itria, Martina Franca.
Irish tenor Eamonn Mulhall’s bright, agile voice place him ideally for Mozart’s, Handel’s, Donizetti’s and Rossini’s lyric tenor roles. He is also a highly accomplished baroque and classical oratorio soloist.
Future and recent engagements comprise performances at the Opera Carlo Felice of Genoa, Teatro La Fenice, the National Concert Hall, Krakow Congress Centre, the Slovak National Theatre of Bratislava and the Prague Spring Festival, the Festival Musica sull’Acqua at Lake Como in Italy, the Belfast Festival, Mid Wales Opera and many more.
He performed with Wexford Festival Opera and other career highlights have led him to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (ROH 2) and to the Scottish Opera. . He has broadcast live on BBC Radio3 and RTÉ Lyric fm.
Kerenza Peacock studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has just returned to the UK after several years in Los Angeles. She has recorded several albums as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic and one album with the London Symphony Orchestra, featuring pieces written for her by Oliver Davis. Her recordings are often played on classical radio stations worldwide. Kerenza led the Pavão String Quartet on five albums and 15 years of tours throughout Europe and the Middle East. She has performed in palaces and hospices, at the Oscars during Will Smith’s tantrum, and once smuggled her violin into the Great Pyramid past the armed guards.
A keen fiddle player, Kerenza toured with the alt-bluegrass band The Coal Porters and wrote two songs on their last album. Kerenza has played on many film and television soundtracks, including Encanto and Avatar, and has recorded with a huge number of artists, including Harry Styles, Celine Dion, Madonna and Barbra Streisand. She was concertmaster for Adele’s World Tour and Vegas residency and led Billy Joel’s orchestra at the Grammys.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, Kerenza gathered 94 violinists from 29 countries to play in harmony with young Ukrainian violinists hiding in their bomb shelters. The video went viral and raised much money for humanitarian aid.
Violist Beth McNinch is very well known to Wexford Audiences for not only is she a founder member of Muisici Ireland she is also it artistic director as well as the Artistic Director of Music for Wexford.
She is an esteemed Irish violist, producer, educator, and artistic director, recently honoured as an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) for her outstanding contributions to the field. Known for her ability to craft compelling programmes that balance classical favourites with lesser-known gems, Beth is passionate about collaboration across artistic genres. This spirit of innovation is at the heart of her company, Musici Ireland, an acclaimed chamber collective and interdisciplinary production house.
She has performing with leading UK ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared in principal viola positions with the Irish National Opera, Wexford Festival Opera, English National Ballet, Ulster Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
In the past couple of years, Beth has made her directorial debut with two major Musici Ireland productions: A Mother’s Voice, a multi-media performance honouring women affected by Ireland’s mother-and-baby homes, and Chronically Hopeful, an interdisciplinary work exploring themes of invisible disability through music, movement, and spoken word.
Beth plays on a rare cut-down Barak Norman viol, originally made in the 1650s and converted into a viola by Matthew Hardie in 1818. Her work has been supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Artlinks!, SEVN, and Creation Artists Residency.
Award-winning American cellist Katie Tertell is a performer and artistic curator, innovating how classical music is digested in modern times. Katie is the Executive Artistic Director and Founder of the Appalachian Chamber Music Festival, headquartered in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, USA. She is a core member of Musici Ireland , member of critically-acclaimed band Howay the Lasses, artistic lead and co-founder of the “Lost in Plain Sight” research project, and founding member of her duo, Cello Power. Formerly a member of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, she enjoys a rich and varied experience as an artist in Europe, America and globally. and Southbank Centre in London, BBC Proms and the National Concert Hall of Ireland. She can be heard regularly on BBC Radio 3 and RTÈ Lyric FM in recorded and live performances of both chamber and orchestral works. Katie teaches cello at Durham University and Newcastle University (UK).
This concert is presented in association with Music Generation Wexford
Ticket prices for this concert are €25, €20 (concessions) and €10 (students/unwaged) and will be available at the door or on www.eventbrite.ie (a booking fee will apply and there are no refunds).